The Forest Floor
Betsy posed this question, so I decided to see what I could find out and share with everyone.
Would it be OK (and beneficial) to use scrapings from a forest floor as mulch and/or compost material in a garden?
My first inclination was to say “yes” but I didn’t know any specifics. As it turns out, this may very well be an incredible idea and free! Here are a few resources I found:
If you walk into an undisturbed forest you will see mulch gardening at it’s best. All the waste bio-matter falls to the forest floor where it is broken down into rich humus. This humus, the building blocks of the plant world, is the food for maintaining the forest and promoting new growth.”
Soil and Fertilizer (Ohio State University Extension)
“Humus has an advantage over the use of unprocessed organic matter such as fresh grass clippings, garden debris, leaves, sawdust and wood chips. Microbes use nitrogen in the process of breaking down this organic matter. Nitrogen is the single most important nutrient in plant growth. Because decomposition depletes nitrogen, nitrogen should be added where large amounts of unprocessed organic matter are used.”
This page also lists several interesting benefits:
“There is scientific evidence that fruits and vegetables grown in humus have a higher sugar content. This gives them a “sweeter” taste.”
“The darker color of humus increases the absorption of sunlight. Highly organic soil warms up faster in spring.”
“Humus improves the ‘crumb structure’ of soil, preventing a hard crust from forming on the surface. Germinating seedlings can easily push through and roots can easily grow.”
“Humus attracts earthworms that burrow up from nutrient-rich subsoil, depositing nutrients in the topsoil layer.”
I would recommend reading this whole page. It is chocked full of a great overview of composting and basic terms that are often confused (organic matter, compost, humus).
Does anyone have any other info on this to share?
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